1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for recording or reproducing information on or from a disc, and more particularly, to an apparatus capable of selectively loading a 120 mm disc and a 80 mm disc and a disc tray having the same.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, disc drives record information on a disc that is a recording medium by radiating light thereon and reproduce information from the disc. To this end, the disc drive includes a disc tray for accommodating a disc and a housing for slidably supporting the disc tray. Recently, for notebook personal computers, the disc drive itself is manufactured to be slim to reduce an installation space of the notebook to meet needs for compact and slim notebook personal computers. Also, the disc drive may be vertically installed to efficiently use a space.
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a conventional disc tray in which a 120 mm disc and a 80 mm disc can be selectively accommodated. FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken along line I-I′ in the conventional disc tray of FIG. 1.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional disc tray 10 includes a disc accommodation portion formed on an upper surface thereof to accommodate a disc D. The disc accommodation portion includes respective first and second disc accommodation surfaces 14 and 16 having different diameters to accommodate the disk D having different sizes. The first and second disc accommodation surfaces 14 and 16 are formed with a specified step.
For example, a disc having a relatively larger diameter is placed on the first disc accommodation surface 14 while a disc having a relatively smaller diameter is placed on the second disc accommodation surface 16. Typically, the disc placed on the first disc accommodation surface 14 has a diameter of 120 mm while the disc placed on the second disc accommodation surface 16 has a diameter of 80 mm.
Also, when the disc drive is installed vertically, a plurality of guide ribs 15a-15d are formed on the disc tray 10 at positions corresponding to an outer circumference of the disc D to prevent an escape of the disc D. The guide ribs 15a-15d are formed along the circumference of the first disc accommodation surface 14.
An external rib 18 having a specified thickness is formed at a leading end of the disc tray 10 and a step portion is formed at a trailing end thereof. The external rib 18 is separated by a specified distance from the first disc accommodation surface 14 at the opposite side to the step portion.
The disc tray 10 having the above structure moves with the disc D accommodated on a disk accommodation portion. When the loading of the disc D is completed, the disc D is placed on a turntable (not shown). Here, the disc D is separated a specified distance upward from the surface of the disc accommodation portion.
In this state, the disc D is rotated by a spindle motor (not shown). An optical pickup (not shown) radiates a light beam onto a surface of the disc D to record or reproduce signals on or from the disc D.
When the disc drive is installed vertically, if a 120 mm disc is placed on the first disc accommodation surface 14, the disc D is guided by the guide ribs 15a-15d so as not to escape from the disc accommodation portion of the disc tray 10. However, when a 80 mm disc is placed on the second disc accommodation surface 16, the disc D falls off from the second disc accommodation surface 16 during transfer of the disc tray 10.